I’ve been working at my temp job for a week after 18 months of either being unemployed or working from home. I expected a bit of a culture shock since I haven’t worked in an office since 2008. So I thought I would document the lessons I will learn over these next nine months. « Read the rest of this entry »

That’s right. After 18 months I finally have a job. It’s only a temp job, but it’s something. And, if I don’t screw it up, it’ll last until the end of September. Which complicates going to SkepchickCON a bit, but I’ll take it.

I don’t think I can adequately express what a relief this is. I won’t get paid very much, but I’ll be able to buy my own groceries, pay my own bills, and even save a little for a rainy day. Sure, I can’t afford to get sick or have any days off, but it’s what I have to do for now. « Read the rest of this entry »

Being unemployed during the holidays sucks. Well, it sucks all the time, but it especially sucks during the holidays. It’s horrible to receive presents and be unable to reciprocate.

This is one reason (of many) that I completely love singer/song-writer Marian Call. She writes in her blog that she noticed a lot of people want to buy her latest album, but simply can’t afford it because of a shit financial and economic situation. (I’ll admit that I was one of them.) So rather than sit on her hands, she’s developed a novel little plan. « Read the rest of this entry »

I have a question for my fellow unemployed people out there. Do you dread waking up on the weekdays? Not in a “Gawd I wish I was dead” sort way, but a “Gawd I have to think of something to do today” dread. Because I get that all the time.

I never thought I would say this, but watching TV all day gets really old after a while. (Plus, I think I’ve watched all the good TV shows Netflix Instant has to offer.) Frankly, if it wasn’t for my bloggyactivities, I would have gone nuts months ago. « Read the rest of this entry »

I just want to say thank you. In two days my previous post was viewed by over 100 people. I know that isn’t big in Internet terms, but it’s so much more than I ever though would see it. So thanks so much for reading and tweeting it an sharing it. I hope people understood where I was coming from.

But something has come up since I posted that last piece. I shared it with the Facebook friend who posted the offending picture. Specifically, I posted it as a comment to the picture, since I thought it said everything I thought needed to be said. And he/she responded on my wall. I quickly copied the response to email to a friend I had been discussing this issue with. I want to post a response to his/her response here. I feel a little scummy for doing so, though, since I have already unfriended him/her (for reasons that I hope will become clear), but I really feel like there is a lesson her on how not to respond to someone who has been hurt by something you’ve done. « Read the rest of this entry »

The other day I was sitting at home perusing Facebook in between job searches and I came across what at first looked like one of those 99% photos. Then I read it. It is a photo of someone who appears to be in the military holding a notebook with a handwritten message:

I have a steady job with a regular paycheck, great benefits, and lots of room for promotion. Next year, I will be paid to go to college and graduate with a guaranteed position making a decent salary. I am the 1% of the 99% that decided hard work and sacrifice were more important than complaining about how life is too hard and I’m not getting any free handouts.

When I first came across this picture, I became absolutely enraged. I had to wait a few days to write a post so I wouldn’t say something I would regret. « Read the rest of this entry »

I’m totally offended by this on several different levels. Sure, I don’t appreciate “In God We Trust” being the motto of a country that purports to abide by its own Establishment Clause. But whatever. That’s not what pisses me off the most is how much of a colossal waste of time it is. Time that could have been spent trying to stimulate the economy and lower the unemployment rate. « Read the rest of this entry »